Why is HRIS maintenance so important?
HR leaders should never overlook HRIS maintenance. Here are some reasons that maintenance can help ensure the best return on investment.
Maintenance is an often overlooked but critical aspect of getting the most from HR systems.
As an HR leader, you've invested time and money into a human resource information system (HRIS) or human resource management system (HRMS) to improve your HR processes. These systems automate manual processes, provide an improved employee experience, enhance the accuracy of HR data and simplify reporting.
As your business changes and the HR system vendor implements new features, HRIS maintenance provides an ongoing opportunity to address current issues and needs, as well as improve the return on investment (ROI) the system brings to your organization.
Here are some reasons HRIS maintenance is so important.
You can address trade-offs that you had to make during the initial implementation
During an HRIS implementation , you often have to make trade-offs. This may be related to budget issues, time constraints or features that don't quite meet your needs. Through regular HRIS maintenance, you can address these shortcomings by implementing the features that didn't match your budget or weren't ready within your timeline.
Vendors are continually adding new features and making the features available to customers. With software as a service (SaaS) platforms, many vendors keep their customer's environment current with all new features, providing clients with the opportunity to turn them on and implement then when they choose. The benefit is that many of these features are free to use and may be configurable by someone at your organization with no additional cost.
You can incorporate features based on new requirements
As your organization changes, it's important that you consider how your HRIS can support your new requirements instead of turning to a manual process or using a new tool. Be sure to consult with your HRIS administrator early on so they can investigate your options.
You can discover new functionality you didn't know you needed
As vendors roll out updates, they typically provide existing clients with a list of new features and instructions on how the features can be used and implemented. For significant releases, vendors may also host webinars to walk customers through their new functionality. Taking the time to learn about the new features may provide insight into how your organization can benefit from them. As an example, some vendors have implemented features specific to COVID-19 and made them available to current customers.
